


the dark i know well

by lesbrarian



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Episode 4x07: The Snow Queen, Episode Fix-it, Mills Family, Pre-Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Season/Series 04, Trigger Warning: Non-Consensual Kissing, episode AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:41:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2602253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbrarian/pseuds/lesbrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And Regina remained as she was, the tiniest crumb of hope inside her wishing he would realize on his own that she was not okay with this. Would never be okay with this method of seduction, such as it was." </p>
<p>4x07 alternate version of the scene between Robin and Regina in the vault. Trigger warning: non-consensual kissing, vague allusions to past abuse history. Pre-SQ if you squint really hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the dark i know well

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, the events of 4x07 felt off, and I just couldn't shake the feeling that Robin's actions were really not okay. So I wrote fic. 
> 
> Title credit: _Spring Awakening_

“Then why are you _here_?”

“Because today is not one of those days.”

If Regina had not been who she was, if she was just a girl waiting impatiently to be someone's choice (hell, if she was the kind of girl who was okay with being someone's second choice, which in the tale of Robin Hood and Regina Mills, she technically _was_ ), she might have kissed him back, right then. But the thing is, Regina actually _wasn't_ okay with being someone's second choice, or even someone's "hey, my wife is frozen and heartless right now, but I'm drunk and you're still as hot as you were before my wife came back from the dead" choice. So the minute his lips touched hers, after she had told him at _least_ four times to just leave her be, let her get past whatever it was they still had between them, she remained still as a statue, despite every cell in her body screaming at her to send him flying through the stone wall behind him.

And yet, this stillness, this lack of a reaction, did nothing to deter the Benevolent Thief of Sherwood Forest from his end goal. He pressed on, hands holding the stiff arms of the woman he claimed to love. And Regina remained as she was, the tiniest crumb of hope inside her wishing he would realize on his own that she was not okay with this. Would never be okay with this method of seduction, such as it was. She had spent the last few weeks seeing that blasted pirate wear her son's other mother down to acquiescence, and though she wasn't always overly fond of the woman, she had begrudgingly accepted that Emma truly hadn't meant to cause her pain, and had taken the olive branch extended to her in the form of a new friendship. So really, the anger - at the actions of men both of the Enchanted Forest and of their current world, at this clichéd wish-turned- _fate_ of women to accept and _want_ men who pursued them relentlessly - had already been simmering long before Robin stopped taking no for an acceptable, truthful answer. 

So when his tongue attempted to seek entrance into a mouth that wouldn't grant it, she felt the familiar rush of her magic, made darkly purple with years of hurt and helplessness, and this time, she did not stop herself from letting it fly from her fingertips, sending her erstwhile "suitor" clear across the room and through the wall after all. Shaking like a leaf, her self preservation instincts kicked in, and she found herself back in the relative safety of her own bedroom.

  

It wasn't until she felt the light tap on her shoulder that she realized how long she had been home, that she was still crouched in the corner next to her nightstand.

"Mom?" 

Henry's voice sounded far away, like it was coming from another world entirely. Which, given recent events, and the general way of things in Storybrooke, wasn't completely impossible.

"Mom?" 

The second time he said it, she looked up at him, at her son with his gentle eyes, worry splashed across his features, and she had to look away again. She had to look away, because her son, her little boy, was growing up right in front of her with no way for her to stop it. And even though the rational part of her mind told her he was just trying to help her, she still couldn’t bear to let him see her like this; see her weak and scared and small.

It almost felt worse than if _he_ had been the one to fall through the time portal; if _he_ had been the one to see her at the height of her reign. 

“Mom?”

The third time he said it, his voice sounded more like the boy he had once been, and not the teenager he was becoming. And yet she didn’t look up, didn’t answer him. Because she _couldn’t_ answer him, not with her voice stuck inside of her, a cry of real fear still lodged in her throat. 

And while she waited, anticipating a repeat of his question, she felt him drop slowly, silently to the ground beside her. She breathed in another shaky breath (regardless of her attempts to appear in control of herself, of the situation, of anything, really), she felt Henry’s pinkie encircle hers and squeeze gently.   

And as her son held on, tethering her to this moment (even just for a minute), she felt one corner of her mouth begin to twitch just the tiniest bit upwards, and squeezed back.


End file.
